Ponoka News received a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) phishing scam on Monday with questionable fonts, grammar and a suggestion that clicking a “link” would provide a $784.59 refund.

The letter states — with the letters ‘a’ and ‘o’ in a different font — that, “After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have established that you can to receive a tax payment refund of 784.59 CAD.”

Further to the letter it states that if we submit the “tax refund request” employees will process the request within seven to nine days.

It further instructs the user to follow the steps on the screen provided in the link. Ponoka News did NOT follow the link and this story is posted as a reminder of the many different scams out there.

Tips from the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre

According to the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre, this is a type of phishing scam where fraudsters provide misleading or deceptive emails to victims.

“…falsely claiming to be from a legitimate organization such as a financial institution, business or government agency in an attempt to have the consumer surrender private and personal information,” states the website.

The Anti Fraud Centre also points out that CRA does not ask for personal information by email or text. The centre advises checking “My Account” on the CRA website directly or by calling 1-800-959-8281.

The Anti Fraud Centre provided these warning signs when it comes to phishing scams:

• Beware of unsolicited emails, text messages or phone calls

• Watch for spelling or format errors

• Check the embedded hyperlink by hovering your mouse over the link to verify the address (don’t click the link)